Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Clark Kent sat at his computer, staring at the blinking indicator bar like if he concentrated just right the article could right itself. The page stared blankly back at him. He groaned exasperatedly, rolling his head and letting it thump on his desk. His computer let out an annoyingly cheerful ‘ding!’ as a new email came in. 

Clark pulled his head up off his desk and looked at the email 

“New story for you. 236 w 14th street. Alley. Look between the bricks” 

No signature, no subject line and the email it was sent from was literally a junk email. It could be a trap. An ambush. Probably not a superman thing but Clark Kent had made some enemies too.

Then again, it wasn't like he was doing anything anyway. And not like they could actually hurt him. He was superman. Maybe he should just text Lois– 

He looked down at his phone to look at Lois's last text. ‘Bat has a lead, wants to meet. Be offline for a few hours.’ Right. Great. You know. He was gonna need to talk to Bruce about his paranoia. Again.  

Clark poked his head into the big windowed office where Perry White usually was. “Mr. White? I'm gonna go and investigate a lead.” 

Perry looked up with a grunt and a wave of his cigar, dismissing him and going back to his review. 

Fair enough. 

*

Clark stood across the street from the alley. He did his best to look inconspicuous as he looked around, checking for traps and other people. There were other people around, it was a street, but the alleyway seemed empty. Honestly it was a good place for a dead drop; on a busy enough street to not seem suspicious walking around it, close enough to major streets to get out of there and decently central enough that you could get here from anywhere in the city, either by walking or the bus. The alley itself seemed to be looked over too. Whoever picked this knew what they were doing. Good chance this was actually a worthy lead. Of course all the things that made it a good dead drop also made it a good ambush spot. Oh no, Bruce's paranoia was rubbing off on him. 

Clark approached the alley casually cautious and gave one last look around before stepping into the shadows. 

The alley was empty and hidden enough that Clark closed his eyes and listened. No one hiding around the corners, just a rat digging in the trash can. Okay. Now, where was this lead? The email said ‘look between the bricks’ so he did. Clark tipped his glasses down and let his vision switch, looking through the bricks. It took him just a few moments to find it, but there, wedged between two brinks where the mortar had worn away was the folded edge of paper. Honestly he would have missed it if he wasn't looking for it. Whoever did this really, really didn't want someone else finding it. And was good enough to make it happen. Maybe he should try and find his new source. 

He pulled the paper out of the wall to feel something else with it. The single page was folded like an envelope and there was a USB inside. He unfolded the paper and looked at it. 

“I have a story for you. Lex Luther wants to build a mall on the site of a prominent homeless encampment. He is frustrated with the delays and bureaucracy.  He plans to kill them. I don't know how. Just “once they are gone I can buy the tragedy and rebuild.” Please don't linger, but please do it right. Here's what proof I could get.
Good luck,
Ariadne”

Ariadne. What an interesting name. He didn't know an Ariadne, did he? It was Greek. Maybe Diana would know who– 

The content of the letter hit him. Someone close enough to have access to Lex Luther had risked probably everything to tell him what he's planning. And if this was true then they had proof. 

Clark almost tripped on his own feet as he ran out of the alley, barely resisting the urge to fly.

Sure that he had gotten far enough away and no one was following him, Clark pulled out his phone and dialed. Voicemail. Expected but damn. “Lois, honey. I know you're with Batman right now, but call me back when you get this. I think I got something big. God I hope it's big.” 

Clark nearly burst onto the floor but held himself back and rushed to Jimmy's desk. “Jimmy! The locked down laptop we use for outside USBs?” 

Jimmy looked up, started. “Uhh– Mark has it. Why?”

“Thanks!” Clark zoomed off. 

“Wait! Clark, why?!” 

Lois Lane, badass reporter with the story of the week from Batman himself, walked back to the office to see Clark and Jimmy huddled together, squished shoulder to shoulder looking at something on Clark's desk. Lois sighed. She loved her boys, but they got into so much trouble when they started planning without her.

She walked up behind them, looking at the screen at what looked like a building complex plan. She waited. And waited. “Hey, Smallville,” she finally said.

Clark jumped and spun to face her. Clark Kent, Superman, Man of Steel, invincible defender of earth with super hearing, jumped. Lois raised an eyebrow. “Whatcha got there?”

Jimmy and Clark looked around the office like they were expecting someone to be watching them. 

“Lets take this to the office.” the boys nodded and followed her like little ducklings to the once storage room that had been turned into what could loosely be called an office space, with the old kitchen table that wobbled with its uneven legs and the mismatched collection of broken and half working chairs. It had an old cork board that could barely hold pins anymore and the small fake window that had once been for the old duct system but had just left a hole in the wall that had looked at the brick. They probably should have left this room to rot long ago but every reporter in this building had used the office at some point or another. It was the one room in the whole building that they knew without a shadow of a doubt no one else was listening. This room of brick and concrete crippled cell service. And in truth, once technology was getting good enough to cut though they had made this place a bit of a faraday cage. And the chair in the corner really was the most comfortable thing in the whole building. 

Lois took the comfy chair and held it like a queen. “So tell me.” And boy did he. 

*

Hours passed and Lois and Clark were studying documents, pinning things up, looking over details, trying to verify the authenticity. Clark absentmindedly patted the old style home printer as it chugged along printing files, one of the few bits of technology that had found its way in here. 

The two of them worked though the stacks of papers, parsing through building plans and veiled threats. True to the writer’s words, there were voice clips of Lex muffledly talking to who must have been a board member about buying tragedy and being the hero for it. Even a snippet of financial records for what could have been to hire someone unsavory for something. 

Lois’s smile turned softly sour. “Clark.”

“Yeah, honey?”

“Have you thought about who gave this to you?” 

“Yeah, Jimmy’s got a guy. He's looking into it,” he said, distractedly pinning another document up and fighting with the pin to stay in the board. 

Lois took his face in her hands, making him look at her. “No Clark, I mean, who has information like this. They have to be close to Lex. And how specific some of this information is. Even if half of it is true, if we say we have this, could it get them in trouble?” Clark looked at Lois with wide eyes. He had not even thought about that. 

Before he could consider if that truly was something to freak out about, Jimmy burst in, his laptop balanced on one arm, nearly stumbling over his own feet. “I got it!” both heads snapped towards him. “I got it. I found her.” Jimmy landed against the table, setting his computer down so fast he nearly dropped it. “I started by looking around the alley way, but she was careful around there, kept a scarf around her face but not in a way to look suspicious, you know? All I got was the jacket and black hair. So I asked a friend of mine to look into the emails. Junk email, yes but we could trace the IP address and turns out, it was sent from the library. Again, very smart.” Jimmy rambled. “But not quite careful enough. See, I scrubbed through the footage outside of the library around that time and I found this as she was leaving, two minutes after you received the email.” Jimmy finally pulled up a zoomed in security camera screen shot of a butch kind of woman with long black hair and bangs that nearly covered her eyes, thin glasses not unlike Clark’s. She wore a heavy leather winter jacket and a dark colored scarf loose around her neck. She was caught in a moment of looking around where the camera got a clear shot of her face. “Unfortunately, my facial recognition program hasn't found a match yet, but I think it will in a little bit.”

“No need,” Lois said looking at the picture. “That's Erica Knight, Lex’s current girlfriend.” 

“What?!” Jimmy snatched his computer back and clicked through some things, bringing up a picture of Lex Luther and Erica from the latest gala they were at.  The woman on Lex’s was effortlessly beautiful and full glam, a red dress hugging all her curves with an elegant fur shall for the cold, brown curls pulled back in a way that looked like a crown on her head.

“They don't look the same,” Clark said at the same time as Jimmy said, “The program didn't catch it!”

“It wouldn't. Look at her face. She shaded her jaw, thickened her eyebrows and changed her nose. She was hiding. Probably from cameras with programs like yours.” The boys stared at her, both bewildered for very different reasons. Lois shrugged. “Makeup can do a lot. I will tell you this though. She's really good. This is not the first time she’s done something like that. That type of talent takes a lot of time and practice. I certainly couldn't do that that well. She practiced and did a lot of work to hide.”

“Well I could,” Jimmy muttered saltily under his breath.

“How can you be sure?” Clark asked. 

“Look at her eyes.” they did. In the gala photo, and in all the other photos Jimmy pulled up, some of which he himself took, she had two different colored eyes. One a striking blue, almost the same color as Clark's, the other a striking apple emerald green. Jimmy remembered a photoshoot with her where the photographer had focused on her eyes, ending up with a vintage vogue style cover with just her eyes visible. They looked at the security photo. The colors were washed out and her eyes were hidden behind her glasses but still her eyes were two different colors. One blue, one green; much more faded than the fashion magazines, but still there. “She has heterochromia. She's not enhancing them, but its still recognizable. Plus, I'm good with faces.”

They took in the pictures for a long moment, trying to think of the implications of if it were true. 

“Guys,” Jimmy started. “I think this is legit. It might not all be correct, but I don't think she's lying. She went to too much to hide and it's not from us.”

“So what do we do?” Clark asked the room. “If we could find her this easy, so could Lex. And I'd hate to think what he’d do to her.”

“We can't just ignore it, especially after all the work she did getting it to us,” Jimmy said.

“No,” Lois agreed. “But what if we let Superman handle it up front and publish after whatever fight is had. Give her plausible deniability.” Clark nodded. “And then she can become a longer term score if we play it right.” 

*

Three days. Ariadne’s warning gave them three days to prepare, set up and write. 

The trio had realized pretty quick they could do little to physically prepare if they didn't want to tip their hand. A discrete tip to a trusted cop friend, a vague warning of danger to the leaders of the homeless camp and try to encourage as many of the people staying there into shelters, even just for a few nights. 

What they could do was look into the whos and the hows. Jimmy asked around, pushing connections as to who was hired and if they had insight on how he operated. Clark studied the area from above, mostly as superman while he was patrolling. And Lois, much to Clark's protests that were silenced with a look, explored what turned out to be a rather extensive section of underground tunneling. Another story for another time, when she could explore more, but for now mapped it out as a way to get to the inner-city encampment. 

And then they waited. Waiting was the worst part. Knowing that something was going to happen and not being able to do anything yet set Clark's teeth on edge. 

Lois shoved her computer at Clark, trading him for his pad thai. 

“Honey, what does that say?”

“Terrorist to hero. It's a working title,” she huffed. 

“It says tourist to hero.”

Lois scrunched her face as she blushed all the way to her ears. “Well– spelling is stupid.”

Clark smiled. He edited the article as Lois finished his dinner. 

As the silence stretched, Clark stared out the window.

“I hate it,” he muttered. 

Lois sat next to him and ran her fingers through his hair. “I know. Jon is in Gotham with the Waynes, Conner is at the mountain with his team. They’re safe.”

“I know. It's not them I'm worried about.” 

Lois sighed and kissed the top of his head. “She’ll be okay. She's smart enough to set up everything she did and not get caught. She’ll be okay.”

“She’s too young.”

“She’s 23.”

“She’s too young for him. She’s the same age as Dick.” Clark had a nearly horrified look at the thought of his nephew being with someone like Lex, someone as old as him. 

“Which makes her an adult who can make her own choices. She's not asking for you to rescue her.”

“She’s too young!”

Lois clicked her tongue and kissed his head again. “Oh my big sweet hero. I know you care. That big heart of yours is going to get you into trouble again. You can't save everyone, especially when they don't want to be saved. She's not asking for you to save her, she's asking to help you. And if she needs help for herself, she knows how to find you.” 

*

Clark looked out over the city from the top of the Daily Planet, trying not to spiral. He stared at Lexcorp tower, straining to hear, pushing to see, trying to find any way to see the girl he had quickly become so concerned about. He was surprised to find the building entirely shielded from all his power. 

He couldn’t not compare her to Dick or even Conner, so wrapped up in heroics that they don't even see the danger, not just physically but emotionally too. None of the young heroes would bat an eye at doing what Erica was doing, heck, they would have jumped at the chance for it. Never mind that Lex is three decades older than her, never mind the fact that she wasn’t even trained. Not a meta, not an alien, not even a lick of martial arts. Just stubbornness and a desire to help. Rao, she really would fit in with them. 

A buzz in his pocket drew his attention. Lois texted. Turns out, Lois was right, their saboteur was using the underground, and he was setting bombs below the structure, planning to bring it down and make it look like a gas main exploding. 

Superman was there in a flash. 

The fight was pretty standard. A big game of keep away with bombs and guns, telling civilians that he was there to help and that they should move away. He knocked the guy out and cleared out the bombs he’d placed. He even managed to find the secondary, super hidden bomb that was on a timer. He flew up and chucked it high above the city with plenty of time to spare, letting it explode in a flashy boom that was no more dangerous than a fire work. Honestly it looked more impressive than it really was. 

Then Superman helped the police arrest the bomber and question him, asking him all the right questions to get the information he “needed” and let the police take care of the rest. 

Then, not two hours after the first bomb was set, the Daily Planet published the inside scoop about the attack and powerful financial backer's involvement, signed with the byline of Clark Kent and Lois Lane, with a rather miraculous picture of the moment the bomb exploded behind Superman and Superman looking like a stoic hero, taken by one Jimmy Olson. 

Perry had given them a look about it all being so ready so fast but didn't say anything on the matter. 

So that brought Clark right back to where he started, on the top of the Daily Planet, studying the city. Thinking about the young woman he had put in danger by letting her help. The two sides of him warring. The hero who wanted to save everyone, who wanted to go to her right now and scold her for putting herself in danger like that and help her leave him and find someone better and safer, and the journalist who nearly frothed at the idea of having an inside man in Luthor’s operations, who wanted to encourage her to look for more, to be his full time spy. 

He looked down at his phone at the press conference that Luthor was holding, denying any involvement, spinning it the way he always did. No legal repercussions for this, not enough to prove anything, but at least socially he would take a hit, his planned project indefinably on hold. That was good. 

Chapter Text

Clark read through Lois's article in front of him, fixing the last of the spelling mistakes when his computer chimed. An alert from the motion sensor cameras they put up in the alley. “Lois,” Clark said over the wall of monitors that separated them. “Ariadne is back.” The spark of relief in Lois's eyes mirrored his own. 

It had been nearly two weeks since the first note and Erica had not been seen publicly in a bit. Then again, there hadn't been many public outings to go to. No Galas, no fundraisers and no press conferences outside of the one just after the attack. 

Clark was up and out of his chair as fast as reasonably respectful and headed out towards the door. He caught Perry’s eye as he passed by his office. “Mr. White, a lead. I’ll–”

Perry cut him off with a wave of his hand. “Go.” he said gruffly, knowing that when Lois, Clark, and oddly Jimmy said those words he was going to have one hell of a story on his hands. He always worried that he might need to lecture them about biases in their writing, and he still sometimes did have to, but they had gotten better about it over the years so he only had to lecture them about once a month and usually only about things involving Luthor. 

Clark was at the alley when his phone buzzed with an email. He pulled it out of his pocket as he leaned against the wall. An email. No subject line, junk email with just the alley address. Ariadne. He smiled and pocketed his phone. 

He slipped into the shadows, growing more familiar with them, despite it being only his second time here. He found the slit in the wall. He pulled out the paper and enfolded usb and smiled. He read the note. 

“I don't know fully what is going on but he’s having a meeting with a Count from Vlatava. There's a meeting and a dinner. He should be here for a few days. Not much of something for superman, but hopefully it's interesting as a reporter.  

Also, there is something else big in the works but i cant tell what. Just that there's a lot more people around, mixing in with the extra people for the Gala.

Also, why didn't you publish the article until after Superman's fight?
Good Luck
Ariadne”

Clark looked at the note. Count from Vlatava. That must be Count Werner Vertigo. It could be legitimate business. Or it could be something more sinister. Or somewhere between the two. But first. 

Clark pulled his note pad from his jacket pocket and wrote a note back to her, leaving it in the crease in the wall. 

“We were worried about you and didn't want you to get hurt. We still don't. You don't have to do this. You've done more than enough. 
Be Safe
CK”

He pocketed the usb and walked back to the Daily Planet. 

In much less of a frazzled rush than the first time he had gotten a note from Ariadne, Clark grabbed the spare laptop and headed to the office. He quickly set about sorting through the documents, parsing through what was safe to have on the system and what should be kept hard copy. Turns out a lot of it was printed. There was however significantly less documentation than the last tip. 

Clark sat at his desk, sorting through the information he had, Lois sitting beside him, having just turned her latest article over to Perry. Most of what it was were business transactions, flight schedules and several markings of LV in what must have been Lex’s calendar. 

In truth, Clark knew very little about the Vlatavan royal, he was usually Oliver’s deal. Maybe he should give him a call. 

“Clark.” Clark was pulled from his thoughts by a serious sounding Jimmy. 

He looked up concerned. “Whats wrong?”

Jimmy let his laptop in front of them, hitting play on the video of the alley. For a moment the screen was still until a dark haired woman walked into the frame and over to the wall. Erica in her black wig and scarf to cover her face. She pulled out his note and read it. She smiled, flipped the page over and wrote something on it. She kept looking around as she scribbled quickly, then she put the note back and scurried off. It should have been perfectly normal, or as normal as passing secret notes cold war style could be, but there was something wrong. Clark took the computer and backed the video up to couch a clear view of her face. She looked pale and when she ran off she moved like she was out of energy. 

“She looks sick,” Lois said. 

Jimmy nodded. “That might be why she's been out of the public for a bit. But supposedly , Luther is actually going to be at the charity gala that Lexcourp is hosting soon. And Erica is supposed to be there too. And guess who got you guys tickets as press.” Jimmy finally looked proud of himself for that. 

Lois smiled. “Youre the best Jimmy.” 

He beamed at her. “There is one thing though. It's a LexCorp fundraiser so the stories, or at least one from that night, have to be about that. And it has to be good.”

Lois gave him a betrayed look. 

“Look, I had to pull a lot of strings to get you these and one of those strings is that you have to write the fluff piece on the gala.”

*

The next few days passed as they usually did, which is to say lightly chaotic and unhelpfully to the big story they were working on. Though in all fairness, a diplomat and businessman meeting weren't always much of a story; not one to be published anyway. It was good to know as Superman. Green Arrow had nearly had a conniption fit when he had told him about The Count. Which was why there was an angry billionaire pacing in front of Clark’s desk, trying to quietly yell at him. 

“But you don't know. Your source didn't tell you. Who is your source, i can get more from them.”

“No,” Clark said again. “Its too dangerous.”

“I can figure things out,” Ollie insisted. 

“No. let me handle it. It’s too dangerous.” he repeated. 

They could both tell this conversation was only going to keep going around in circles like this so Oliver stepped back. “Fine.” he politely waved as he just walked away. 

**

Oliver Queen was a man used to taking his hits, but being one of the few fully human members of the justice league means that the others, especially super humans like superman tended to treat him like glass, trying to steer him away from anything that was even vaguely dangerous. He knew that Clark meant well and would be deeply mortified if he pointed it out, but Ollie didn't really care to have that argument right now. 

So Ollie did what he always did. He talked. He talked to people who would know about strange people renting space. He talked to people who would know about private flights. He talked to people at the embassies. And he found it. A penthouse sweet, a warehouse and a privately catered dinner at Luthor’s tower. 

Oliver was amused at how easy it was for him to sneak through the rafters of Luthor’s newly renovated so-called warehouse. Though he supposed the system was more suited to keeping out a Kryptonian rather than  a normal person. The place had been retrofitted for a science lab surrounded by a seemingly random assortment of businesses and work spaces, presumably to throw off the cops to the really juicy things happening at the heart of the block wide building. Ollie had slipped in from the sub ceiling from one of the restaurants that held part of the building. A mom and pop Chinese place that honestly smelled really good but was not the point. He had passed an optometrist office and followed a strangely snaking path that passed between the businesses. Finally he had reached the center of the building to a small cluster of rooms with no windows. The room he was above had several whiteboards with calculations and scientific scribbling that meant nothing to Ollie but maybe it would be useful to someone else. There was also a multi screened computer area, almost the same size as the one in the bat-cave. It had notebooks and scientific papers and books that looked Greek to him, but clearly this was a room for analyisation, not experimentation. 

He was just about to jump down to get a closer look when the door opened. Oliver hunched further into the beams, watching as two men in lab coats walked in. one of them pulled up something on the computer while continuing his conversation. Something about sports games and traffic and not getting the day off for it. The screen lit up with a video. Oliver didn’t understand most of it but he decided to record it to show it to someone more medically inclined than him later. Hey, he had learned a thing or two from the bats after all. What he could understand was that this was some sort of drug test. 

~

The video showed a young woman with dark hair in a hospital bed. She had monitors all around her, hooked up to a heart monitor with an IV in her hand, and she was unconscious. The room was well lit but there were no windows in sight. It wasn't a particularly inviting room, bare, with just medical equipment all over. If he had to guess it was either a private medical room in someone’s house (or more likely tower) or the weirdest operating room he had ever seen. 

Two figures walked into frame. One was tall and specifically non-descript, covered mostly from head to toe in a generic suit with a hat on his head and a scarf around their face. Maybe the room was really cold. Maybe he was just being pretentious and paranoid. Either way, it was hard to tell who it could be, though given the circumstances, Oliver could guess. The other walked with a cane and a particular swagger that Ollie would recognize just about anywhere. Count Vertigo. 

Another doctor figure walked into the room and spoke a moment with Vertigo and the shadowed man. The sound on the video was turned off, but Ollie didn't need it to understand when Vertigo lifted the hard case and set it on one of the tables and opened it. He pulled out a vial of shear red liquid and a contraption that looked like a gun with a needle on the end. He loaded the red vile into it and primed it before handing it to the doctor. 

The doctor took the gun and put it to the base of her neck, pushing the needle in. Then, he pulled the trigger, pushing the red liquid in fast.

The girl cried out as though it burned her, momentarily spiderwebbing the patterns on her veins onto her skin, but quickly quieted. For once Oliver was glad the video had no sound so he didn't have to hear her scream. He knew what Vertido was capable of creating. She fell back into rest and settled, still not awake. Then she seized. Violently. No one helped her. The shadowed man watched with cold curiosity. Then she stopped and her heart started beating evenly again. 

Vertigo stepped into frame again. 

The scientists paused the video before it showed more and Oliver decided he didn't need more. He had all he needed to know, Luthor and Vertigo were torturing some poor girl for science and he needed to stop it, even if this wasn't his city. He did have to wonder why Superman’s informant didn't tell him about this. 

“See,” one scientist, the one from the video, said. “She had a weird reaction.”

“But she survived it,” the other one said, more like he was noting an interesting result than joy at the girl still having life. 

~

*

When the alert went off for the alley, Clark slipped away and bolted towards the alley, not as Clark, but as superman, flying as quietly as he could. He slipped back into Clark as he landed. He hid on the roof, overlooking the alley, looking down on the young woman who was trying to stuff a note into the wall. 

He listened, finding her heartbeat. It was fast and stuttery, like every other beat was tripping over itself. Was she that scared? No. That wasn’t the sound of a scared heart, that was the sound of a sick one. 

He almost jumped out of his skin when he heard the soft voice call, "Clark?” He looked down at the woman who called to him. She was looking up at him. “Clark Kent?” she smiled. 

He smiled back. “Yes ma’am.” He stood up and walked to the fire escape, making his way down, doing his best not to trip over his own feet. As he got to the last part, the ladder, well he started fine, then the ladder dropped the rest of the way and Clark along with it. He slipped and dropped the last few on his own, landing on his butt. Look, not all the clumsiness was an act. 

Erica giggled into her hand, not trying very hard to hide it. “I always heard you could be clumsy, but it's a whole new thing to see in person.”

“I suppose it's just how I've always been, ma’am.” Clark got up, smiling sheepishly, fighting the blush in his cheeks, eliciting another laugh from her. “What?” he asked, trying not to sound like a sad puppy. 

“You're just–” Erica caught another round of giggles at his puppy wounded look. “Its just that, well you're such a big strong guy and so mid-west small town polite. I just didn't think you would be so farm boy. It's sweet.” she reassured him. He could do nothing but look sheepish and try to brush the dust and dirt off his jacket as she giggled. She finally stepped up to him, handing him the carefully folded note and usb drive. “I guess I shouldn't be surprised you figured me out so fast. Let me guess, motion sensors on the entrance?”

Clark took the page and tucked it in his jacket. “Cameras in the corners,” he smiled. 

They stood there studying each other for a long moment. Clark was noting the pale tone in her skin, the softly uneven beats of her heart, the real color of her eyes not obscured behind cameras or contacts. She smelled like antiseptic and sterile rose. Not a particularly pleasant smell, but it wasn't bad. Like she had spent too long in a hospital and tried to cover it. His eyes snagged on the soft purple tips of bruises on the back of her hand, hidden under long sleeves. 

He took her hand, his focus narrowing in on her and this moment. She almost pulled her hand away on instinct, but let her hand rest in his. 

“It’s not what you think,” she said. And boy, hadn't he heard that a thousand times before. If he–

She pushed up her sleeve to show her hand proper. The now fully visible bruise was accompanied with a small pin prick, like for an iv or a blood draw. “I’m a tricky poke and they wanted to do some tests while I was in there.” She pushed her sleeve up further to show another, much smaller bruise about half way up her arms. “The proper IV port. Uncomfortable as hell, but necessary.” she paused, reading him. His worry came off of him in waves. She gently took his other hand and rested his fingers over the spot showing no pain, letting his fingers rest on her pulse point. He felt her pulse under his fingers, hearing the little stutter steps, but a steady, strong heartbeat otherwise. 

“You are very sweet to worry, and I get why, but this was not his doing.” She spoke before he ever got the chance to. “I have a bad heart. Born with it. 27 surgeries by the time I was 10. 15 more before I ended high school.”

He looked into her eyes, looking for fear or sorrow or something. All he saw was acceptance, care and a determination that came from being familiar with death, but not willing to leave without making a mark. 

“You got a second chance, why are you risking your life for this? It's not that I don't appreciate the information but–”

She smiled and waved her hand. “I got more time. I want to do something with it. I want to do good. I’m still on borrowed time.” She smiled, then smirked. “Now maybe we should stop holding hands before your wife sees us.” 

Clark nearly yelped and pulled away, turning a deeper shade of red, pulling one last laugh from Erica. She patted him on the shoulder. “Dont worry, i doubt she's the jealous type. Especially when you're trying to be such a hero.” There was kindness in her voice. She smiled and started to walk away. “Oh, and there's something extra in there. She gestured to his jacket where he had put the note. I figured you like to come.” he gave her a confused look and she just smiled. “Good luck, Clark Kent. I hope I see you again soon.” She walked away. 

It took Clark until he got back to the office to lose his patience to curiosity. He sat at his desk and took the carefully folded page from his jacket. He was surprised to find, along with the regular usb and note, two gala tickets tucked into the folded page. He almost laughed out loud. 

He sat and thought about their conversation, trying to, well he wasn't sure. Find an angle to get her to stop her madness and get out? Learn more about her? Try and figure out why? She certainly was an odd one. Find more about her, he could do that. 42 heart surgeries can't be all that common. That was a place to start. 

*

Ollie was a few blocks away when he saw Superman fly over him. His bike couldn't keep up with the man of steel but he could see where he landed. 

He managed to pull his bike up just in time to see a young woman walk out of the alley and walk a few blocks up into a waiting car, heading off towards downtown. 

Though a truly impressive amount of back tracking and round aboubouting and quite a few stops outside of high end boutiques where she would do in and look around, but tend to stay long. 

It took 4 shops for her to stop long enough for Oliver to finally enter behind her. He watched her step out of the dressing room with the gaggle of stylists all oohing and aweing at her in a short, tight black dress that was pretty but honestly all the wrong cut for her. All he had to do was get close enough to drop the tracker in her purse so he could stay back and follow. 

He watched her looking around in the mirror, at first looking at herself then around the room. She caught his eye and smiled. 

“You,” she called, gesturing him over with an open palm gesture. Oh boy. He was in trouble. “What do you think?”

“I don't think it suits you, miss.” 

She smiled. “Yes. see? Thank you. Someone who’s honest. Well if this isn't my dress, then what is?”

Ollie stalled for a moment, but only just. He was handed an opportunity on a silver platter and it’d be rude to waste it. He made a show of studying her, then studying the show room floor. “Well what is the dress for, the occasion is very important.” 

“Oh yes. My partner is hosting a foreign dignitary for a dinner party. A Count. Practically royalty. So you must be on your best behavior and dress appropriately.” 

He smiled, looking around for a dress. “Who’s your partner?” He tried to ask casually. 

“Lex Luthor, of course.” 

Oliver almost tripped a step. Oh no. If her boyfriend was Lex Luthor then that would make her–

“Oh, where are my manors? I’m Erica Knight. It's a pleasure to meet you.”

He walked back over with a dress in his arms. “Oliver,” he said.”Oliver Queen.” He handed her the dress. “This should suit you much better.” He handed her a black, corset top dress with a figure hugging skirt. 

She made that delighted, high society grunt of appreciation that somehow said ‘thank you’ and ‘you're a godsend’ and still being elegant and took it from him. “Yes. This should do nicely.” She smiled dazzlingly at him. Wasn't dazzling smile supposed to be his move? “Anyway,” she said, picking up the conversation as she slipped behind the curtain. “He’s brought all this equipment over with him. A bunch of science stuff.”He sat on the viewing couch, positioning himself so he sat next to the medium sized purse that sat beside it. “He and Lex have been just giddy school boys about it. Something about replication and mass production or some such thing. You know how boys get about their science toys.” he slipped the bug in her purse. “Especially my Lex, sometimes he treats his inventions like his babies.” She waved a hand over the curtain for a store associate to help her.  “Hes been working so hard on his newest plan. Got himself a brand new warehouse and everything.” Ollie was mentally notting everything, thankful that the bug was already recording. 

She stepped out. She really did look stunning in the dress, though older than she was. She hummed for a moment. “No. Something's missing,” she mused. 

Oliver stood and studied her in the mirror, his own hips cocked like he was meant to be there. He made an appraising noise then walked to one of the racks and pulled a matching sheer black scarf. “Anyway, he’s had so many new visitors lately.” She continued. He started fussing with the fabric and the dress. “Its like he's trying to find the best and brightest for his next big thing. It really is shaping up to be something grand. I imagine I'll have plenty more of these dinners to look forward to.” When he stepped away she had makeshift, elegant sleeves of the sheer fabric. 

“Oh, it's perfect!” She cried. “Yes. We'll ring this up, yes?” She said to the store associates. She turned and walked back to the dressing room and Oliver got the stink eye from the associates as he just stole their commission. But still, in less than a minute from talking away from the mirror, she was rung up and handed her bag. 

“Hope to see you at the gala, Mr. Queen.”

Another opportunity. “Oh. Well, I would love to, but I don't have an invitation.” 

She smiled. “Oh. Don't worry about that then. Your name will be on the list.” and with that, she gave him a double cheek kiss and walked out with her hall. 

Oliver stood there for a moment, his brain feeling like he just stepped out of a whirl wind. He had barely said 20 words and yet he’d gotten so much information. 

It was past sunset by the time Oliver followed Erica back to the tower. He  slipped in with the caterers, snagging a spare uniform from the back of the van. He listened to the bug in Erica’s bag as he made his way up to the dining room where the count would be hosted for dinner. 

“Where were you?” Lex’s voice was cold and disinterested, partly suspicious, mostly bored. 

“I was looking for a dress for the party. I don't really want to wear something from my closet again, but I couldn't find much of anything that wasn't boring generic or a ripoff,” Erica said, mostly not looking at him, more swishing around dresses in the mirror. “Oh! But I did find this adorable little turtle broch.” she rifled in her bags and pulled out the little gem encrusted bobble from her bag. “I also got a new dress for dinner tonight. Do you want to see?”

“No.” The response came just a little too quick. “Dinner will be in two hours,” he said after a second. “And get something custom for the gala.”

Erica gasped and squealed. “Really babe?! Oh you're the best.” there was a sound that Ollie could only imagine was Erica kissing Lex (Yuck) and making an excited squeak. 

“Yes, well. It’s important that you look your best.”  Lex said. 

Ollie had to hide his WTF. Was Lex really soft for this girl? First she had expanded Lexcorp’s charity output and now he was legitimately doing something nice for her? What? No, there had to be another angle. 

Oliver slipped through the people and slid to the table where dinner would be and slipped a small bug under it. Task one done. Now just to get to the office. 

He slipped away and sneaked his way upstairs to the private floor. Well he already was on the private floors. The more private floors. To Lex’s office. He slipped out of the borrowed uniform, slipping from random civilian to Green Arrow between floors. 

It took him longer than he care to admit to find Lex’s office. First things first, bug under the desk. Check. 

Now files. What was Lex Luthor doing with Count Vertigo. 

“Freeze!”

Oliver turned slowly on the balls of his feet, still crouched, to come face to face with a very big, very mean, very mad security guy pointing a gun at him. Ollie raised his hands. Several other guards rushed in. 

In the stillness Lex walked into the room. “What do we have here?” he said condescendingly.

Oliver kept his mouth shut. 

Lex tisked. “Take care of him.”

Oliver stood slowly cornered. “Now now, lets not be hasty."

Before Lex has even fully left the room, Erica rushed up to the big security guy. She grabbed his arm, dragging his gun away from Ollie. “Wait! Please! Don't hurt him! He didn’t mean any harm, you don't need to kill him!” 

The big man swung his arm, knocking her clear in the chest, flinging her into the desk where she promptly crumpled. 

Oliver took the distraction to jump out the window, shooting a grapple arrow to the next building and barely landing. 

He listened to the bug, hearing the girl groan and cough for air. The big guy muttered something about a bleeding heart philanthropist and the sounds of heavy boots walking out of the room. 

“I’m alright,” she muttered, just loud enough for the bug to catch. Things had gotten seriously out of hand. 

But still there was something off about her. 

Oliver found himself back in his hotel room, thinking over the interactions. Every moment that didn't quite feel right. She had to have seen him in her closet, they locked eyes he was sure of it, but she had said nothing. She had even tried to save him from being shot. It wouldn't have been the first time but she had tried to save him and gotten hurt for it. Was she really just a crazy civilian who wanted to help? Why was she still there? Did she really just want to play special agent? Does she have a martyr complex? Or maybe a death wish?

And what was all that at the dress shop? Thinking back on it, she had told him so much more than he asked for. Either she was careless with secrets, which he doubted, because she was usually so tight-lipped and playful with paparazzi, or she was explicitly trying to tell him something. Like she knew who he was. Not just Oliver, but the green Arrow. 

He finally pulled up the footage from his earlier escapade and watched it again, letting his mind try and parse out the details of what was bugging him as he video played as it uploaded. Then his eyes snagged on the girl. Dark hair, pale skin, slight build, and her face. He had just seen her, right. Was the girl in the bed Erica? 

Chapter Text

Clark glared down at Oliver, but really it didn't carry much sting. Not much could after the Bat glare. Well except maybe when Dinah started using it on him when he was particularly stupid. He was man enough to admit that it was equal parts hot and terrifying from her. But anyway, Clark lectured him as Lois finished her notes. He had expected her to be more shocked by what he had seen in the not-warehouse not-lab. Then again, if Erica was the girl from the video then she was up and walking around, and after Clark had told him about her heart condition, well maybe it really had been a medical procedure to help? Not that he really believed that, but even then there wasn't much that could be done about it until they figured out what was going on.

“-- Reckless. Unbelievably selfish and–”

“Jesus, Clark! I'm a grown man! I earned my place in the league, I'm not just set dressing. I am fully capable of dealing with dangerous situations. You don't need to coddle me.”

Clark grit his teeth. “I meant for her. You could have gotten her killed. As it is, you got her hurt.”

“She’s a strong girl! She knows what she's doing. She can ask for your help if she wants it! You can't just put people in gilded cages of Superman protection because they want to help!”

“She’s sick!”

“She wants to help! And from what I can tell she's doing a hell of a job of it!”

“Boys!” Lois snapped, making both of them shut up immediately. “While you could yell about this all night, we have more important things to focus on. Like what we are going to do next. And how long you're going to stay for this, Oliver." Oliver wanted to take offence, but one look told her she was asking in genuinity. “You have your own city to look after, and while we appreciate the help,” Lois put her hand on Clark’s arm to stop his retort. “This is a long standing issue that you can't just stay here for.”

Oliver nodded, finally thinking of the implications of him just rushing over here. “Ill head back tonight. The gala is in a few days so I’ll come back for that then go home. But I will be checking in. With her and with you. I want to be kept in the loop.”

Clark held in a grumble. “This is my case.”

“Yeah, well she's made a mark on me.” Clark gave him a hard look again. “She’s a fierce young woman who reminds me of Artemis. It's exactly something she would do. Hell, it's something she has done.”

Lois nodded, agreeing. Clark sighed softly. “She's about the same age.”

“I know.” Ollie picked up his helmet.

“If it were Artemis, would you let her stay there?”

Olli stifled a cynical chuckle. “With a man like Lex? A man old enough to be her father twice over? Hell no. But I'd have a hard time stopping her. She would do it whether I wanted her to or not.”

Clark hated that Ollie was right. He stood at the window, watching the city, resisting the urge to just float aimlessly above the city. He listened to the heartbeats, listened to Lois muttering to herself as she typed away, listened to Ollie’s motorcycle as he patrolled Star city. He listened to Kon’s heartbeat back on the farm with Ma and Pa, listened to Jon’s as he slept.

He tried to listen for Erica’s heartbeat but Lex never let any sound leave his buildings. It should have bothered him that he had gotten so concerned for Erica so quickly, especially when he had only had passing empathy for her before he knew her. But she was so weak, so vulnerable, and she had come to him. Even if she didn't know he was Superman, he was the man of steel and he had to protect people. He had to help her. He tried to think of her as a capable adult, tried to remind himself that she was capable of making her own choices. She was just too much like the Young Justice kids, even if they were grown. And Lex was… Lex was his issue. He shouldn't need someone giving him information like this. But it was immensely helpful.

The war of thoughts battled back and forth in Clark's head long into the night. Even by the time he got home from watching the city, his mind was waffling back and forth, fighting the urge to just fly to that damn tower and take her away.

“Oh, Clark,” Lois's soft voice broke him from his spiral. She always knew when his head was battling with his heart.

“Lois,” he breathed.

She gently cupped his face in her hands. It did not matter that she was in her pajamas and her hair was a messy frizz, she was a breath of fresh air. “Come to bed. Sleep.”

Clark leaned into her hand. “Lois, I…”

“I know. Come to bed. Rest.” She gently led him to the bed. They worked in gentle quiet and settled into bed. Somehow the fears had spiraled into this monster in Clark's head.

“I don't know what to do.”

“I know.”

Clark readjusted his tie, looking in the mirror.

“Stop fussing, you look fine,” Lois said from the other room.

“How did you even–?”

“I’m just that good.” She stepped into his view. She was wearing a figure hugging navy blue dress, gold and diamond earrings with an understated necklace with a small sun on the delicate golden chain that Clark had given her when they had first started dating.

“Gold?” he asked, trying not to choke on his own tongue.

“I had to match my bracelet.” She raised her hand and showed off the thick golden bracelet, decorated with a sun and stars. Another special piece of jewelry, but this one had a recorder in it. Jimmy helped her set it up, having it back up to the cloud so it looked sleek and polished.

“Clark,” Lois smirked. “Let's go before you start drooling.”

Clark nodded, clearing his throat and trying to hide the blush.

The car ride was quiet as Lois went over her notes on the gala. A philanthropic fundraiser for nature conservancy, no doubt actually pioneered by Erica. She had several questions about the hypocrisy of building factories that pumped out toxic waste like it paid and hosting a charity event for saving nature, but this was supposed to be a fluff piece on the function and for whatever reason Lex wanted someone from the Daily Planet there for it.

Clark pulled into a parking spot not far from the entrance to the venue, pulling in next to Jimmy who was sitting on the trunk of his car with his camera and press badge, trying to look cool and not pulling it off.

As they walked to the steps of the hotel convention center, Dick Grayson saddled up beside Clark and smiled.

“Hey, Clark. Thanks for the invite. It's not often I get to do one of these outside of Gotham.”

Clark smiled and pulled him into a hug. He pulled back and rummaged through his pockets, pulling out the tickets Erica had given him. He handed one to Dick.

“Erika Knight, right?” Dick asked, slipping into Nightwing for a moment.

“I just want to keep an eye on her. Hopefully, introduce you.”

“We’ve met before, actually. Briefly. We did a shoot together like 5 months ago?”

“Good. Then talk to her. Make friends.”

Dick narrowed his eyes. “To what end?”

Clark finally slipped into Superman. “For extraction. When the time comes.”

“Is she in trouble?”

“Not yet, but if she keeps going as she is, she will be, and I want another friendly face for her to turn to, if I can't.”

Dick nodded. “Well, let's have a party then!” he said, slipping so easily into the dazzling media darling he played when he wasn't behind a mask.

Once the party was in full swing, it did not take long for Oliver to clock them and find his way over. He danced and swerved his way through the crowd, not spilling a drop of his still rather full drink. He slipped in with them, hugging Dick, then passing him a drink. “What are you doing here?” he asked, fully Ollie.

“Uncle Clark wanted to introduce me to a friend,” Dick said, all model boy flippant.

Watching the two of them rich boy persona off each other was something else. It was hard to see the green clad archer and the eldest bat-son, but that was rather the point. And somehow in that, they managed to convey the points they needed to.

“Ollie!” a voice squealed from behind them.

They turned to see Erica. She wore a floor length red gown, with a corset top, off the shoulder sleeves and a slit almost up to her hip. She wore a silver branch design necklace with emeralds. Her turtle broach was clipped into her hair, and her own drink in her hand.

She ran up to them and hugged Ollie. “Oh, I'm so glad you made it!” she took a step back and spun, showing off her dress. “Isn’t it just wonderful? I finally found a stylist who knew what they were doing. I got it custom made, it took them a whole week, can you believe it?” she said like she had expected a faster turn around.

“You look amazing,” Oliver said. “There’s someone I want you to meet.” he gestured to Dick. “This is Dick Grayson, he’s like a nephew to me.”

Her eyes lit up as she extended a hand to him. “Dick Grayson, golden boy of Gotham. I was wondering when I'd see you again.” She smirked.

Dick smiled that dazzling smile, took her hand and kissed it. “Its a pleasure to make your acquaintance again, Miss Knight.”

She giggled. “Oh, please, call me Erica.” She stepped in and took his glass from his hand, smirking up at him. Even in heals, Dick was still a head taller than her. “You wouldn't begrudge a girl a drink, would you?” she asked, all sass and no bite.

“Of course not, Erica,” he said with the same flirtatious, teasing tone.

She took a sip of his drink. “So tell me, Dick, what's it like on the dark side of the night life?”

Dick laughed. “Gotham really isn’t all that different from here. Just a little more rainy.”

She gave him a mock incredulous look. “That's it? Just that its rainy? There has to be more to Gotham than that.”

“You mean like The Bat?”

She chuckled. “Well sure, if you want to be boring about it, you can tell me about the big bad bat man that dresses up every night and spooks people in a rain soaked cape, sure.” Dick laughed. He had to save that one for later. “I wanted something more interesting. Like what you do when you're not behind a camera. What fun is there in the gloomy city?”

“Why, you planning a trip out there?”

“Maybe. We’re looking at vacation places and Gotham came up a few times. I think he has business there, something about some icy hotel.” She gasped like she had a brilliant idea. “We should meet up when I'm there! You can show me all the best places while he talks business.”

“I will take you on a personal tour.”

“Good, I could use a friend. I’m thinking… Bowling. Do you know any good places to bowl in Gotham?"

Dick laughed, genuinely laughed. Of all the things for her to say, that was not what he was expecting. “You like to bowl?”

She shrugged. “Never done it before. Sounds fun though.”

On the stage, a speaker stepped up to the mic and the speakers crackled to life.

“That’s my que.” She handed his drink back and walked up to the stage.

“I can't tell if she knew I was with you and trying to tell me something or if she just shares details like that with everyone like that,” Dick said as the others stepped back up.

Clark nodded. “She’s smart, I wouldn't put it past her.”

Oliver chuckled. “Icy hotel in Gotham, that's the Penguin, right? Quite the roster Lex is collecting. Count Vertigo, Penguin, who else is he gathering?”

The speaker on the podium introduced Lex Luther and the crowd clapped.

Luther stepped up to the podium. “I want to thank you all for coming.” Clark held in his eye roll. “This is a cause that is near and dear to our hearts, but none more so than my darling Erica.” Lex extended his hand for Erica to take and step beside him. He kept holding her hand visibly. “As some of you may know, these last few years of my life have been difficult ones between issues with my health and troubles with my company, but none of that mattered the moment she walked into my life.”

Venue techs pulled the podium out of the way and switched Lex’s handheld mic with one that clipped to his shirt.

Lex sank to a knee and pulled a ring box out of his jacket pocket.

“Erica,” he continued, keeping her hand in his. “I have spent my life striving for greatness. My intelligence has built a world class company. I have become the most successful man in the world. Then you came into my life and I understood what it meant to be truly powerful. I want you to walk by my side forever. Will you be mine?” Lex Luther opened the ring box to show an ornate ring with a center diamond bigger than a thumbnail with concentric circles around the boxy gem, first emerald then more diamonds. Even the band was covered in diamonds.
Clark heard Erica’s breath hitch, like panic rising in her throat, before she muttered a soft, “Yes,” too quiet for the mic to hear.

Lex slipped the ring on her finger and stood, pulling her into an aggressive kiss.

Clark saw the flash of pure stunned panic in her eyes before she pulled her own mask up and smiled for the cameras.

“I was not expecting that,” Dick said.

Erica stood at the railing around the tall rooftop of the hotel, looking out over the city. There was no moon tonight and the city lights were bright and distant. A place for her to clear her head, to think. She leaned against the rail looking over the city. Trying to wipe the tears from her eyes.

“I heard you just got engaged, congratulations are in order.”

Erica whipped around. Superman hovered just over the rooftop.

“Why are you crying?” he asked.

She laughed softly. “I should ask why you care.” She sounded more defeated than harsh.

“Well, a young woman up here alone, crying, when you just got engaged?” He set down gently. “I’d think anyone would care.”

She laughed wetly and looked back out over the city. “It wasn't supposed to be like this,” she said after a long quiet. Superman came over slowly. “He was never supposed to actually fall for me. Or even play the game this far. I was supposed to be long gone before this.” she gestured to her ring. “But I'm in too deep.”

“You can still leave,” Superman tried to assure her.

She shook her head. “No. I can't." she laughed self-pityingly. “He’s got his hooks in me. He would never let me leave, not like this, not right now.” She took a steadying breath and let her eyes trail to his. She saw the concern and worry on his face. “It's not all bad,” she tried to laugh. “I get wonderful dresses and anything I could materially want. Jewelry, dresses, even just plain old money.” The laugh she pushes out was somewhere between a pitying huff and a mournful groan. “You must think I'm a terrible person. Using a man like this.”

“No. I think you are very brave for what you’ve done…. I know what you’ve done for me.”

She smirked. “Clark told you.”

He nodded. “Yes, ma’am. He said you were very brave, though worries about you.”

She chuckled. “Its not bravery. You think too good of me. You all do.”

Superman’s brow furrowed. “I think you are braver than you think you are.”

She shook her head. “It was selfish. It’s selfishness and vanity. I wanted to do something. Wanted to do good. And if I got to live the highlife for once, who would be hurt for it? Just get a chance to start over on the right foot.” she laughed with no humor. “What is it they say? The road to hell is paved with good intentions? Well my intentions weren't so good but here I am anyway.”

“Erica, you can still walk away. You don't have to–”

“No. He's planning something and I'm not leaving until I know what it is. I wanted to play hero, this is the price.”

Clark had so much he wanted to say. Tell her this was not her fight, she didn't have to be a hero, she already was one.

Her phone buzzed. She pulled it out and looked panicked.

“He knows you’re here! Go.” She rushed to him and shoved him back. “Go!”

The moment her hands made contact he felt the all too familiar sting of Kryptonite. He could feel it through the gaps in her ring, the emeralds backlit by toxic green. He stumbled back, head spinning.

“GO!” she shoved him harder and he was falling over the railing, diving into a free fall.

“CLARK!” Lois's scream shocked him back to reality. He shot forward, swerving through the streets on instinct before he got his bearings again.

He landed hard on the roof of the Daily Planet, falling to a knee as he stopped. Lois rushed to his side.

“I’m fine, I'm fine,” he reassured. “Kryptonite. Just need a minute.” Lois started looking him over for wounds. He took her hands as she helped him to his feet. “Lois. Lois, I'm fine.” She led him to the stairwell and into her mostly quiet office.

Jimmy was there, already grabbing water and bandages. “She had kryptonite? I thought she was on our side.”

Clark settled into a chair. He shook his head. “In her ring. I don't think she knew it was there. Lex gave it to her.” He buried his face in his hands. “I couldn't save her, even if I wanted to. He’s made it impossible." He hated how much kryptonite could mess with him, even such a little bit could nearly cripple him like this.

Lois looked at him with that look that she got when she was putting unpleasant pieces together. “In her ring? Isn't Kryptonite radioactive? Isn't that what gave Lex cancer? And he's having her just wear it?”

The next few days were a buzz with news of the engagement, but for the trio it was a tense game of superhero chicken.

Jimmy sat next to Clark. He said nothing but held out his phone, opened to twitter.

@LexLutherCEO: After my charity party, Superman approached my Erica, trying to convince her to leave me. He made her cry. Superman can’t even be happy that I have found love.

Pictured below was a grainy picture of the moment Erica had pushed him. It looked a lot more incriminating without the context and the fear in her eyes.

Clark muffled a groan.

“I'm going to–”

“Don't post, honey. He wants to start the fight.” He kisses Lois on the cheek.

“I know,” she grumbled.

“Cooler heads, love.”

Lois huffed. “My better half.”

On the third day the tabloids were a buzz with talk of Erica Knight doing a Dior fashion shoot and whether she would wear her ring or not, or if it meant that the famous fashion house was going to be designing her wedding dress.

Before Clark could think to pull out his phone it buzzed.

I'm at the same shoot. I’ll look out

Sent from dick.

Erica lounged on one of the comfy chairs, hair sprayed and fluffed within an inch of its life, makeup camera ready, and a silken dressing robe with her initials embroidered on it. An assistant stood not far, offering her three different types of water, five different granola bars and a bowl of grapes, for some reason.

To the outside eye it would look endlessly luxurious and she would look pampered and spoiled, but Dick saw the boredom, the distant look that was thinking a thousand things. He knew the truth of assistants always hovering around actors and models. It wasn't hero worship, it was herding cats. A manager had once told him that they gave actors trailers so you could always find them. If the assistant was the one to get things then they could always find the talent. It was a funny sort of babysitting really.

Dick plopped down in the seat next to her.

She smiled. “Thank god, my savor,” she laughed in a significantly more subdued voice than she had at the party.

Actually, while at the party she had seemed the socialite pinnacle of affable ease, all bubble and charm and no real substance, here she seemed comfortably wound up, like a clock waiting to start ticking. She drummed her fingers softly to a beat that was only in her head and her eyes looked around like they were hungry to catch the slightest movement. Her eyes studied him in split second frames and so casually he would have missed it if he weren't looking for it. Still, none of it felt aggressive, just relief that there was something else to take in in the boredom.

“I’m so bored. Please tell me you brought a book of sudoku or something. Maybe a newspaper crossword? Hell, I'd take a Wordle at this point.”

“Hey! What's wrong with Wordle?” he protested.

“Nothing’s wrong with it, per se, it's just kinda boring. It's quick. You get five chances for one word then ‘come back tomorrow’”

“Hey, I've got like a 205 day streak on those.”

She whistled. “Danm. That's impressive.”

“My brothers and I have a challenge going on.”

She nodded, “let me guess. You want to beat them on the streak because you can't beat them in other stats?” she teased.

Dick tried to defend himself against the accusation, but all that came out was a few stuttered words of protest before they both started laughing.

The competition of faux wordle went on for an hour and Erica was clearly in the lead. Each of them sharing wilder and wilder stories to try and distract each other.

Dick laughed. “Okay! I give! You win! How are you so good?”

“Ha! English major all the way, baby!”

They settled their laughter.

“You were an English major?”

“Oh yeah, bachelors in modern literature with a focus on how literature shapes the world.” She laughed. “I was going to be a librarian, if you can believe it.”
Dick looked at her stunned. “Danm. how does a librarian end up as a model and…”

“And with a guy like Lex?” She shifted in her seat, looking around for a moment. “My dad died,” she finally said. Dick reached out to comfort her, but she held out a gentle hand. “About a year ago. I found myself alone, my safety net gone, my family was dead and I needed something. I did some modeling for my friends in school. I was a popular pick because of my eyes. A lot of art students like them, a lot you can do with natural dichotomy. I like being in front of the camera, learned a few tricks behind it and I guess I was good at it, because my first photo shoot put me on the map. As for Lex… That's a long story.” She sounded defeated.

Dick sat a little closer, putting a supportive hand on her shoulder. “We have time.”

Erica closed her eyes and pressed her cheek against his hand. A single tear dripped onto his hand. She stayed there long enough to take a deep breath and let it out, letting just a little bit of tension out of her shoulders.

She gave herself another moment of the soft comfort. She smiled through the tears. “You really are a good guy.” She put her own hand on his. “I hate that you’re so charming.”

“Is it a bad thing to be charming?” He softly teased.

“No.” She had to laugh. “No, but you're too good. You can see right through me. I can’t tell you I love him, because I don’t. And I can't just say I was trying to help, because that's not all of it. You can get that from Clark–”

“You knew I was with Clark?”

She chuckled. “From the moment you walked in. You didn't really split up.”

He smiled. “So that's why you rambled on at me.”

“Well I had to see if you could keep up.”

“You really had me fooled. You even stole my drink,” he said, mock offended.

She laughed. “That was the goal. Make them think I am just some vain party girl. At least for now.” She took another breath. “There are things going on that–”

“Erica?” An assistant came in.

“Not so much time after all,” she said with a sad smirk. She stood and started to follow the assistant out.

“Wait.” he grabbed her arm gently. “You don't have to go back.”

“Yes. I do.”

“Are you happy there?”

“If it were about being happy, I would have run away with you the first day we met. It's not about happy. I can't leave.”

He slid his hand down her arm and took her hand. “I can protect you. If you're scared of him, I can keep you safe.”

She put her hand on his cheek. “ I know you would. And it would get you hurt. And I can't have that. You're too good.”

She slipped out of his grasp and walked away.

“She’s scared, Clark.”

“We can protect her from him. We can get her police protection, or we can have the Justice League help her.”

Dick shook his head. “She’s more afraid of someone else getting hurt. I think the best we can do is show her we’re here.”

“Maybe we can convince her.”

“Well, you don’t have to wait long,” Jimmy said, entering the conversation. He held out his phone with a gala evite. “A proper engagement party. They’re hosting it Friday, at Lexcorp Tower.”

Dick adjusted his tie, fidgeting and pulling. “You would think a guy would get tired of throwing parties,” he muttered.

Clark stood in the kitchen in his Superman costume. Dick looked at him curiously as he did his last gear check. “You’re going out?”

Clark nodded. “She’s wearing kryptonite, I can’t get near her. I can’t help.”

Dick nodded. “Ill keep an eye on her.”

Dick took Lois’s arm and they headed to the party.

Erica stood beside him in her classic tight dress with a slit too high and gems all over, but her eyes looked fragile under layers of makeup. She smiled, sculpting the image of a happy bride to be, but her eyes searched the crowd. When Lex finished his speech, she did a princess wave and followed him off stage.

Dick stood in his place, playing at drinking, watching Erica. Something was wrong. He could feel it in his bones. He watched her intently, watching for a moment for her to break away from Luther, but he kept his grip tight on her arm, not letting her leave his side.

He watched her be pulled from one conversation to the next, and the longer he watched the more she stumbled.

“Lois,” Dick said quietly to Lois beside him. “I need you to distract him. Let her get away.”

Lois followed his gaze. She nodded. “It seems the perfect time to ask some questions and get an interview for the paper.”

Once Lois had Lex’s attention, Erica slipped off with an excuse of grabbing a drink.

She slipped through the crowd. When she got to Dick, he could see how pale she was. Unsteady on her feet, hands shaking. Her eyes were wild and shattered, part panic, part pain.

She shoved a ball of paper into his hand. “Please,” she said.

Dick looked at the note in his hand. ‘Ra’s is here. Brought Lazarith. Call RedHood. Experiments' he looked up and she was gone, pushing away from him. Lex’s voice rose above the crowd.

“You have had a lot of charity events for cleaning nature and saving animals. With all your factories around the world being a big contributor to pollutants in local eco-systems, what are your plans to change for cleaner manufacturing?”

“All of our factories are within EPA standards and we have a board overseeing green initiatives. It is all on our website.”

“As are budgetary statements. So, how are you funding these initiatives? Are they coming out of your own pocket? Are you using funds from these gala’s to cover the cost of your own green initiatives?"

Lex sneered. “Be careful the mud you try to sling, Miss Lane. I am raising hundreds of thousands for charities in the last year. It would be a shame if that all stopped because I had to shift my focus to deal with a slander suit.” He looked around to his guards. “I believe this interview is over.”

Lois blocked his path. “I am not afraid of you or your slap suits.”

Luther flexed his fingers and fiddled with his watch.

A sharp crash and a scream broke the air.

Dick pushed through the crowd to see Erica splayed out on the ground, not moving, not breathing.

He knelt by her side, trying to find her pulse, not missing the well hidden bruises around her neck.

He found no pulse. It was only thanks to all his years of Robin training that he did not freeze in that moment. “Call 911,” he said to the man standing closest to him. He put his hands on her chest.

“What are you doing!” Lex Luther said, outraged. He grabbed Dick by the arm and lifted him off Erica, shoving him away. “Get your hands off my Fiancé."

“Her heart stopped! She needs CPR!”

“I think you have done more than enough,” Luther snapped. He picked her up like she weighed nothing. “I will take her to receive proper care.” The venom in his voice was clear and directed.

He walked out with her, his car just outside and his security forming a wall, keeping Dick from following.